Floor and wall connection for railway-cars.



J. H. WEISBROD.

FLOOR AND WALL CONNECTION FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28. 1915.

1,183,93. Y Patented May 23, 1916.

is 1 :of my invention being to provide a comparativelysimple andeffective joint or connec JACOB H. WEISBROD, F ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI,ASSIGNOB. T9 AMERICAN CAR AND FOUNDRY COMPANY, OF S'l. LOUIS, MISSOURI,A CORPDRATION' OF NEW JERSEY.

FLOOR AND WALL CONNECTION FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

meanest Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 1916.

Application filed May 28, 1915. Serial Nor-130,946.

tion, such as will enable others skilled in the art to wlhich itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

- -i My invention relates generally to railway cars and particularlysuch cars as are utilized for carrying grain, the principal object tionbetween the side wall and floor of the car and which joint orconnection, in addition to being weather-proof, Wlll be effective inpreventing the leakage of grain, even though the flooring and side wallsheathing tend to shrink away from each other as a result of drying out.

It will be understood that in the' construction of cars for carryinggrain, the flooring and the sheathing forming the side wall areconstructed of comparatively thick lumber and when the same dries outthere is a tendency for said flooring and sheathing to shrink, therebyopening the joint between said parts, which action results in, lossofgrain forming the lading of the car and which loss is chargeable tothe railway or transportation company owning the car.

I propose to provide a comparatively simple and inexpensive structure j'vhich will connect and maintain in proper relative positions theflooring and wall sheathing of a car and which structure will preventthe leakage of grain, even though the wood forming the flooring andsheathing shrinks to an abnormal degree.

A further object of my invention is to provide a graintight joint at theinter-section of the floor and side wall which will readily permit theremoval of the floorboards without disturbing the wall sheathing.

With the foregoing and other ob ects in view, my invention consists incerta n novel features of construction and arrangement of parts,hereinafter more fully described,

claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in'which- F1gure 1is a vertical section taken through the side of a car adapted forcarrying grain and which car is equipped with a joint ofniy improvedconstruction between the floorlng and wall sheathing. Fig.2 is anenlarged detail sectional view of the joint between the flooring andwall sheathing. Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 of amodified form of the joint. Fig. 41 is a sectional View similar to Fig.2 and illustrating a further modification of the joint.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 and illustrating a-furthermodification of the oint.

These upright members are usually in the form of Z-bars.

The lower member \of the wall sheathing rests directly on top of thesill member IQ and the lower inner corner or said lowermember israbbeted as designated by 14: in order to receive the verticaljegfapf ajoint member 15, the same being preferably in the form of an angle withthe inner portion of its horizontal leg 6 resting directly} on top ofthe inner portion of sill 10.

The lower member or the wall sheathing is rigidly fixed to the verticalflange a of joint member 15 in any suitable manner, preferably by meansof bolts such as 16, the

outer portionsof which pass through the inner flanges of. the uprightmembers 13,

and the outer threaded ends of said bolts be- I ing provided with nuts.I I

The end portions of the timbers forming the flooring 11 rest directlyupon. the horizontal leg Z2 of angle 15 with the upper outer edges ofsaid flooring timbers hearing di- 1 rectly against the inner face ofthelowen' wall sheathing immediately above the rah bet 14 The edge ofthe flooring is rigidly fixed to joint member 15, preferably by means ofwood rivets such as W", the same passing vertically through the flooringmembers and through that portion of leg. 6 of the joint member whichprojects inwardly from the sill 10. Thus it will be seen that theflooring and sheathing are connected through the medium of joint member15 and that the latter rests directly upon the sill 10 and is fixedlyheld in proper position by the bolts 16 or like fastening devices whichare seated in the upright or diagonal members forming.

apart of the side structure of the car.

By virtue of such construction the tend ency of the flooring and wallsheathing to pull away from each other as a result of shrinkage isreducedto a minimum and in the event that the joint between these partsdoes open to a limited extent said open joint will be renderedweather-proof and the lea kage of grain will be prevented by the anglejoint member 15 which serves as a connection between the sheathing andflooring.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 3, the rabbet 1 1 is extendedupward above the surface of the flooring, thus forn'iing an i saidspace.

opening into the space between the vertical leg a of angle 15 and the.end of the flooring, and such construction permits a suitable fillingsuch as cement to be placed in In the construction illustrated in Fig. la plate 18, preferably of metal. is rigidly fixed in any suitable mannerto the top of sill 10, a portion of said plate projecting inwardly from.said sill. lmoscly arranged ontop of the outer portion of this plate isa tenon plate 19 having a continuous upwardly projecting rib 20, thesame occup ving a position in the groove 21 which is formed'in the lowerend of the members of the wall sheathing. The outer edge of tenon plate19 is bent downwardly as designated by 22 over the outer edge of plate18. thus maintaining the continuity of the outer surfaces of the Wallsheathing and sill 10. The .outer portion ofthe flooring 11 restsdirectly upon the inner portion of plate 18 and these parts are fixed toeach other in any suitable manner, preferably by means of wood-rivets'23 and the outer edge of said flooring bears directly against the lowerinner portion of the wall sheathing.- By virtue of this construction,the flooring is prevented from drawing away from the side sill andthe,wall sheathing, and in the event that the latter should draw awayfrom the sill through shrinkage or for any other reason, thetenon platepositioned beneath said wall sheathing will at all times maintain aweather and grain proof joint.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 5, the vertical leg of theanglemember 15 is not connected to the lower sheathing member 12 and therabbet in said lower sheathing member is comparatively shallow or onlyof suflicient depth to receive the vertical leg of the angle.

A particular advantage gained by my improved construction arises fromthe fact that in all instances the ends of the floorboards do not extendbeyond the inner face or surface of the wall sheathing and for thisreason the flooring can be readily removed without disturbing saidsheathing.

I-leretot'ore in the construction of graintight joints at theinter-section o'f the car floor and side walls, the practice hasbeen tointerlock the floor-boards with the sheathing by either rabbeting thefloor and sheathing boards or by rabbeting the sheathing boards only. Insuch construction the floor boards cannot be removed without firstremoving a section of the side wall. It will be noted that in myimproved construction the ends or the floor-boards terminate in the samevertical plane with the inner face of the wall sheathing and by virtueof such constructiou. the flooring can be easily and quickly removedwithout disturbing the walls.

To avoid cutting oi? the floor-boards at their ends, the vertical flangeof the joint member is spaced apart from the ends of the floor-boards asutlicient distance to receive the heads of the bolts which secure thejoint member to the side framing members and sheathing of the car.

The joint member may be bolted only to the floor-boards as illustratedin Fig. 5, and where such construction is employed, the floor-boards areretained upon the side sill and upward movement of said floor-boards isprevented by the vertical flange of the joint member 15 which occupiesthe recess in the wall sheathing.

A joint or connection of my improved construction is comparativelysimple, requires no special shapes. is applicable for either new cars orcars which are re-built ios or repaired, maintains the flooring andsheathing in proper relatii e positions, and prevents the opening ofjoints between said parts.

It will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, form andconstruction upon said sill and interposed between the flooring andsheathing, and means seated in said joint member and the floor andsheathing for securing said. parts to each other.

3. In car construction, a sill, side posts, flooring, wall sheathing,and a joint member resting upon said sill between the flooring andsheathing, and which joint member is rigidly fixed to said flooring,sheathing, and side post. 1

. 4. In car construction, a side sill, sid posts, flooring, wallsheathing, a joint member resting upon said sill and interposed betweenthe flooring and sheathing, means for rigidly fixing the joint member tothe flooring, and means for rigidly fixing the joint member to thesheathing and side posts.

5. In car construction, a side sill, a joint member bearing looselythereupon, flooring secured to said joint member, wall sheathing andattaching means seated in said joint member and wall. sheathing. i

6. In our construction, a side sill, a joint member bearing looselythereupon, flooring secured directly to said joint member, side posts,and wall sheathing arranged adjacent to said side posts, whichsheathing,side posts, and joint member are secured to each other.

7. In car construction, a sill, flooring, wall sheathing, a joint memberbearing loosely upon the sill and interposed between and rigidly fixeddirectly to said flooring and sheathing, and said sheathing beingrabbeted to recelve a part or" said joint member.

8. In car construction, a sill, flooring, wall sheathing, an anglesupported by and bearing loosely upon the sill and the legs of whichangle are rigidly fixed to the flooring and sheathing.

9. In car construction, a side sill, flooring, wall sheathing, an angleloosely arranged and bearing directly upon the sill with one of its legspositioned between the flooring and sheathing, and said angle beingrigidly fixed directly to the flooring and sheathing.

10. In car construction, flooring, wall sheathing, a joint memberinterposed between and rigidly fixed directly to said flooring andsheathing and a sill upon which the joint member is loosely mounted.

11. In car construction, a side post, wall Sheathing adjacent to saidpost, flooring, the edge of which occupies a position adjacent to theinner face of the wall sheathing, and a joint member interposed betweenthe flooring and sheathing and being rigidly fixed thereto and to theside post.

12. In car constructioma side sill, flooring, wall sheathing, the innerface of which sheathing adjacent to the end of the-flooring is rabbeted,a joint member resting loosely upon the side sill and interposed betweenthe flooring and wall sheathing, a portion of which joint memberoccupies the rabbet in said sheathing and attaching means seated in saidwall sheathing and that portion of the joint member which occupies therabbet therein.

13. In car construction, aside sill, flooring, Wall sheathing, ajoint-member resting loosely upon said side sill, a portion of whichjoint member occupies a recess formed between the end of the flooringand the inner face of the sheathing and attaching means seated in aportion of said joint member and said wall sheathing.

14. In car construction, a side sill, wall sheathing, flooring, the edgeof which terminat'es in the same plane with the inner face of thewallsheathi'ng, a joint member bearing loosely upon the sill and fixedto the flooring and having a portion interposed between the end of saidflooring and the adjacent face of said sheathing and attaching meansseated in said wall sheathing and the adjacent portion of said jointmember.

15. In car construction, floor, wall sheathing, the inner face of whichsheathing at the .end of the flooring is recessed, and a joint memberrigidly fixed to the flooring and having a portion positioned in the recess in the sheathing and rigidly fixed to the latter.

16. In car construction the combination with a side sill, floor and wallsheathing,

of a joint member comprising an anglehaving its horizontally disposedleg resting upon the sill and positioned beneath the edg'e of theflooring and its vertical leg positioned betweenthe end of the floor andthe lower portion of the sheathing, and fastening means seated in thehorizontal leg of\ said joint member and said flooring.

17. In car construction the combination with a side sill, flooring andwall sheathing,

of a joint member comprising an angle hav-

